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"Test Using Multiple Browsers. Most people forget to test using multiple browsers, but it’s very important. If you’re using a PC it’s easy to test your blog in Firefox and Internet Explorer. On a Mac you can check it out in Firefox and Safari."
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Using Linux you can check Firefox, Opera, Epiphany, Konqueror, Netscape and a few more whose names I have forgotten.
Paul -- great looking design! When you post about the new design (there's still time!) I'll post some thoughts there...
Another great article. My wife was wondering why she lost her adsense, and now she knows why. I like the new design. Keep up the great work!
If using meta tags is the option on your site if you can't upload (Blogger for instance), then having a meta plugin always helps.
Here are a few:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins/Meta
one thing i added to your header.php modification is this:
meta name=\\\"description\\\" content=\\\"<?php optimal_title(); ??> <?php
bloginfo(\\\'name\\\'); ??>\\\"
meta name=\\\"keywords\\\" content=\\\"<?php optimal_title(); ??> <?php
bloginfo(\\\'name\\\'); ??>\\\"
that way, you have different meta tags for each post, so google doesn\\\'t consider them duplicate content. (better for seo)
-Nick
Cheers
t
I should release that plugin sometime.
Whenever I shift to a new theme, i backup my blog, restore the contents on my local blog and start working on the new theme. Once everything is in place, all you need to do is upload and activate the theme :)
Regarding point 1, I am not sure why you ask to copy the sidebar contents, it will anyway be there in the sidebar.php of the old theme !
Agree on all the other points :)
For people confused by ptfrance's comment, he was trying to recommend using the Optimal Plugin, which I also recommended in the post. Here's the link:
http://elasticdog.com/2004/09/optimal-title/
Steven -- if you've got plugins that solve some of these issues email me when they're ready so I can take a look.
Venu -- Setting up a local install is a very good idea, but I think that's for more advanced users. Some of the points I mention above are for less technically experienced WordPress users. It's the same reason I recommend copying your sidebar contents into a text file, some people may not even be sure how to get to the old sidebar.php file, or might be scared off by seeing php, etc.
When I launched this site I used a blog I have online that I don't really use; made a great deal of tweaks there before going live. But lots of newer people to WordPress just upload a theme and turn it on...
Great advice though.
Also, did you bother to check your design for AOL browser compatibility? Was wondering if anyone even bothers with that check. I'm completely out of the loop on how some AOL users browse the web but recently learned that AOL can really butcher a site that looks great in Firefox and IE. Was wondering if there is anyway to check a design for AOL compatibility without signing up for AOL.
I'd add that you could check different screenshots of your blogs using browsershots.org. AOL isn't on that list, but a bunch of other browsers are.
:)
Also .. I use WS_FTP_LE as my FTP .. but, it's available on many other FTP programs. It's a good idea to set a "start" directory when you log in , so when you log on you go directly to the theme directory online and on your harddrive backup copy. But - when you change themes .. don't forget to change this setup, otherwise you might FTP copy the old theme's sidebar overwriting the new sidebar with all the revisions!
However, in that case - you would have a backup as mentioned in the 1st paragraph to re:copy over the overwritten files :)
p/s: Although for the moment I would like to avoid the hassle of changing themes, I will definitely make a mental note for your tips.
What I did was setup a test blog for this purpose, made sure everything worked, got my readers to visit the test blog, made note of their feedback, made necessary changes etc. and only then did I implement the template change on the main blog.
Went off without a hitch :-)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
When I first started using WordPress I got burned a few times by #2 (forgetting to re-apply stat tracking code). After changing themes a couple of times (and forgetting to add my stat code back in) I decided I had enough...and wrote a plug-in that does it for you.
The plug-in takes the code mods that you typically make to the header, sidebar, and footer and stores them in the WordPress database. Now, when you switch themes you no longer have to reenter your stat code (because it is pulled from the db instead of the theme itself). Check it out if you are interested: http://www.nmediainteractive.com/2007/05/18/tra...
Any reason why you targeted Wordpress?